What Are the Best Tools and Techniques to Recover from Ransomware in 2025?

How do you recover from ransomware in 2025? Recovery is not just about restoring encrypted files. Ransomware actors frequently combine data theft, extortion, and third-party compromise to wreak havoc at targeted organizations. The result is a full-spectrum crisis that can span IT, legal, senior leadership teams, and customers.

According to SecurityScorecard’s 2025 Third-Party Breach Report, 41.4% of ransomware attacks originate with a third party. The data highlights the growing importance of visibility into both internal and vendor environments as teams prepare recovery efforts.

Ransomware Attacks in 2025

Ransomware operations in 2025 include:

• • AI-driven payloads and AI-assisted phishing
  • Zero-day exploits targeting unpatched systems
  • Data exfiltration
  • Extortion

• Third-party compromise

• Ransomware actor C10p is the most prolific ransomware actor in third-party breaches, according to SecurityScorecard’s 2025 Third-Party Breach Report

Ransomware actors make up 64.8% of attributable breaches over the past year, according to SecurityScorecard data. According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, the prevalence of ransomware in breaches rose by 37% compared to the previous year. And the effects of ransomware are disproportionately impacting small businesses. Ransomware is part of breaches at large organizations in 39% of cases, while it’s a part of 88% of cases for small businesses.

Sometimes, threat actors claim to deploy ransomware even when they don’t encrypt victims’ files. In this case, the attack may actually leverage wiper malware, which makes backing up your organization’s files even more crucial.

If we zoom out, the data shares a clear message: Organizations (especially small organizations) can no longer avoid developing a robust ransomware response plan. Plans must address every phase, from ransomware detection to data recovery from ransomware and  strategic containment.

Six Phases of Ransomware Recovery

Successful recovery requires a plan and a repeatable process.

1. Ransomware Detection

Early ransomware detection improves containment and reduces impact. Look for:

• Rapid file encryption

• Creation of ransom notes

• Network or disk usage spikes

• Traffic to command-and-control servers

SecurityScorecard’s threat intelligence feeds are designed to pipe directly into Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools and help security teams respond more quickly to threats and contain the damage.

2. Incident Containment

Act fast to prevent lateral movement of attackers if they’ve successfully broken in. Acting quickly to contain incidents can help limit access of bad actors and can reduce data loss and operational downtime. Containment steps can include:

• Quarantining affected systems

• Disabling compromised credentials

• Blocking traffic to command-and-control servers

• Isolating network segments

• Disabling risky third-party connections

3. Malware Removal and Eradication

Once contained, remove all traces of malware:

• Apply malware removal utilities

• Search for persistence mechanisms, such as scripts, scheduled tasks, or registry entries

• Reset passwords and rotate keys

• Document findings to support root cause analysis

4. Data Recovery from Ransomware

Effective data recovery from ransomware depends on clean, validated backups. Recovery methods can include restoring from air-gapped backups or immutable backup solutions, rebuilding systems, and testing access controls before reconnecting systems.

Attackers can target backup infrastructure as well. That’s why immutable backup solutions, which are intended to prevent tampering, are so crucial to a ransomware recovery plan.

5. Communication and Notification

Clear internal and external communication can reduce reputational fallout. Work with legal, IT, executive teams, and other teams to alert customers or partners if data is affected and report to regulators where required.

It can be helpful to consult legal and IR firms if the malicious actors demanded a ransom. Paying a ransom does not guarantee that bad actors will keep their word and enable decryption. Paying them does not necessarily prevent the bad actors from leaking any exfiltrated data. Additionally, paying ransoms may violate legal or regulatory guidelines.

6. Root Cause Analysis and Continuous Improvement

After restoring operations, conduct a complete root cause analysis to prevent recurrence.

Investigate entry points: phishing, zero-day, or third-party compromises. Explore whether failed multi-factor authentication (MFA), patching delays, or excessive permissions facilitated the attack. Assess the nature of the exfiltrated data and the scope of encryption or lateral movement within internal and vendor environments.

Postmortem steps can include:

• Update your incident response playbook

• Tighten identity and network controls

• Conduct a vendor access review

• Improve detection thresholds and alerting

• Incorporate lessons into tabletop simulations

Must-Have Ransomware Recovery Tools for 2025

What tools help with ransomware today? It’s important to remember that no set of tools can guarantee ransomware prevention, but a layered defense with multiple steps and crosshairs can help. These categories are essential, though not all-inclusive:

• Ransomware Detection: Behavioral tools can detect anomalies that may indicate ransomware. Advanced threat protection solutions can help protect against sophisticated hacking, malware, zero-day attacks, and more.

• Immutable and Airgapped Backups: Immutable backup solutions protect backups from tampering. Maintain air-gapped backups to reduce vulnerability to ransomware.

• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and SIEM Integration: Combine Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) to detect anomalies and trigger automated workflows.

• Third-Party Monitoring: Platforms like SecurityScorecard continuously scan for supply chain ransomware attack indicators such as expired certificates, exposed services, leaked credentials, and vendor misconfigurations.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you recover from ransomware?
Follow a ransomware response plan. Detect early, contain the spread, remove malware, restore from backups, and perform root cause analysis.

What tools can help with ransomware?
Essential tools include Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), ransomware monitoring, malware removal utilities, threat intelligence feeds, and backups can help.

Should you pay ransoms to ransomware attackers?
Paying ransomware actors demanded ransoms does not guarantee that bad actors will keep their word and enable decryption. Paying them off does not guarantee that they will not leak exfiltrated data anyways. Additionally, paying ransoms may violate legal or regulatory guidelines. Always consult legal counsel.

Strategic Insight for Security Leaders

Ransomware attacks are a threat to business continuity in 2025 that board rooms cannot afford to ignore. Ransomware may enter through vendors, hides in overlooked endpoints, and targets your weakest policy enforcements. While preparing backups is an important step, thorough preparation will include detection plans, vendor oversight, and communication and legal processes.

SecurityScorecard can support recovery work through continuous third-party visibility and breach remediation support. From identifying third-party compromise to validating secure backups, our platform supports teams throughout the incident lifecycle.

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